


Midnight Conversation

by confusedandtired



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 08:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15904653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confusedandtired/pseuds/confusedandtired
Summary: Qrow has a question.





	Midnight Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> This may or may not suck. Happy reading!!

Qrow shuffles around in his makeshift bed, a thin sheet on the ground with a pillow and fluffy blanket draped over him. He grunts as he tries to find a comfortable position.

Winter sighs. She needs complete silence and complete darkness to able to rest. With all the rustling he’s making, she won’t be able to fall asleep.

Finally, Qrow stops moving. Winter waits for him to start tossing and turning again, but he keeps still. She breathes out in relief.

Then, “Winter, can I ask you something?”

She groans, “Qrow, please. We need to be up early for the mission and I’d like to get as much sleep as possible.”

“Just one question,” he persists.

“Fine. What is it?”

“Why do you hate alcohol so much?”

She rolls her eyes and moves to lay on her back, mimicking Qrow’s position.

“Other than all the detrimental health issues?”

“Yeah, other than that.”

Winter thinks about it for a second. Qrow, though extremely annoying and uncivilized, is in all honesty a good person. She’s seen how he is around his nieces and even their friends. He’s not a bad guy, no matter how much he tries to act like it. And the General had once mentioned how Qrow had a tough life. Maybe he’d understand.

Winter had remained silent for a while, so Qrow thought she wouldn’t answer him. He doesn’t know why he asked, to be honest. But something in him wants to know. Her lips don’t curl up in disgust as most people who were averse to the substance did. She just gave his flask or glass or whatever was holding his drink at the moment a look of skepticism. 

“My mother,” she finally answers. 

Qrow raises his eyebrows. He’s heard a lot about Weiss, Papa (a.k.a. Nicholas Schnee), Grand'Mere (a.k.a Claudia Schnee), Jacques-ass, and even Whinely (apparently her little brother was a brat), but Winter’s never mentioned her mother to him. In fact, he almost forgot she had one.

“Willow, right?” Qrow asks. She hums as if to say yes.

“When I was around twenty, my father finally confessed to have only married my mother in order to gain control of Papa’s company. I was still at Atlas when he admitted it, and so I wasn’t there to console her. Weiss was only ten, and Whitley was even younger. They couldn’t really help. She found something else to nurse her broken heart. Wine. And it ruined her. She was the most poised and elegant lady I’d ever met. She turned into a mess. She never looked after Weiss or Whitley anymore. Her perfect appearance was shattered. She just became a shell of a woman.”

Qrow frowns, “You think that might have something to do with her broken heart instead of alcohol?”

“Yes, obviously. But it didn’t help. She ran away from her responsibilities because of it. When I got home, before I learned of anything, I found her passed out in the gardens. I thought she was dead,” she says quietly, her voice slightly choking on her words. “I guess it just scared me after that. I can’t trust it, nor can I trust people that easily either now.”

“Were you close to her?”

Winter thinks back to the tea parties she used to have with Willow when she was a little girl. Or when her mother used to dress her up for parties, complimenting every small detail about Winter. Or when she let Winter hold baby Weiss and baby Whitley because she trusted Winter with her “most important jewels.” Winter swallows a sob. “She was my best friend.” She turns to her side, her back to Qrow. A few tears slip out.

“I’m sorry.”

Winter laughs, somberly. “At least I had time with her. Weiss only had ten years before she lost her. I don’t think she understood what was happening, but even she could tell something was wrong.”

“Have you ever tried getting her back on her feet since?”

Winter, whose heart had been twisting since the conversation started, asks, “Can we talk about something else?”

Qrow sighs. “Yeah. What should we talk about?”

Winter says the first thing on her mind. “Are you close to your parents?”

Qrow chuckles. “Man, I don’t think I’ve talked about them since Yang was born.”

“Sorry, you don’t have to-“

“No it’s fine. I wasn’t that close to my mom. Raven was her golden child. The fierce warrior that would lead our tribe. But my dad, yeah I was close to him.” He pauses for a second, thinking back on his tribal days. “The tribe demanded us to be strong and cunning, but he just wanted me to be happy. He taught me everything I know. Fighting, hunting, and simply enjoying life. Dad didn’t want us to be killers and thieves. He wanted the tribe to be good, but they didn’t listen. Guess the tribe got to me, cause I ended up being another bandit. Until Beacon. Until Yang, actually. I saw the “goodness” in her that he wanted to see in the tribe. Haven’t gone back since cause mom would see me as a disappointment, and I’m just scared to face dad.”

“You? Scared?” Winter shifts to face him, looking down from her position in the bed.

He looks up at her. “Yeah. I don’t know what he’ll think of me anymore.”

“But you’re what he wanted you to be. And besides, what if he misses you?”

“Doubt it.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. Honestly, I don’t think anyone but the girls and Tai would miss me if I ever left. I can’t really see anyone else being too worried.” Then after a second he adds, “Maybe Glynda. We were close friends at one point.”

Winter remains quiet. She slips her hand in his before saying, “I’d miss you.”

He chuckles, “Okay.”

“Really, I would. Like I said, I don’t hate you. You’re one of the only people that trust me. You and Weiss. Father thinks I’m going to mess up, General basically coddles me, and even Headmaster Ozpin doesn’t fully trust me yet. I’d miss you. Your trust, your expertise, even your annoying actions that make me laugh even though I hide it.”

Qrow smirks at the ceiling, “I knew you liked me.”

Winter huffs and draws back her hand, but Qrow tightens his grip.

“I’d miss you too, Ice Queen.”

“You say that only because I said it first, and it would be rude not to.”

“And I’d give up the chance to be rude to my favorite seasonal character?”

“Point made.”

“Plus, it’s just not the same annoying other people.”

“Jerk,” Winter laughs, not letting go of his hand even though he loosens it just a bit.

What Qrow doesn’t say is how he’d miss getting into fights with her because he liked seeing how much she’s grown as a Huntress. Or how nice it is to see her ears go red when he makes a suggestive comment. Or how pretty he thought her smile was, but it wasn’t at all as nice as her laugh. 

She used to never laugh at anything he’d say, so he made it his mission to make her laugh. He heard her laugh at jokes her friends would make, insults James would throw at Qrow, and when reading Weiss’ letters to her. But never when Qrow said or did anything. When the day came, and Winter finally cracked up at something he commented on (a stupid joke that he can’t even remember now), he fell for her. Fell hard.

He doesn’t even realize it, but his lips begin brushing the back of her hand. He’d miss her. He’d miss her a lot.

Winter blushes down to her toes. “We should get some sleep,” she whispers.

“Mmm. G’night.”

“Goodnight.”

“Sleep tight.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“Don’t let the bugs bi-”

“Qrow, go to sleep.”


End file.
